Mobile recording system?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 4:13 am

I'm currently using the ProTools HD 3 system with Digidesign's PRE's as preamps, recording mostly acoustic instruments or lined electric intstruments.

In the studio I'm doing fine and I'm very satisfied with the system. But it would be great to be able to bring the system elsewhere, to record sounds of the wind, traffic, thunder, church bells, etc. And also of course to be able to record small live gigs.

Does anyone have recommendations on what system to buy for this purpose? The dream would be to find a system that can be used on location and also is so good that it can replace my current system in the studio.

Thanks a lot!

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 5:17 am

If you are an HD3 user in the studio, you will no doubt have a great set of studio microphones and a good working knowledge of the studio tracking techniques that get good results.

Well, forget all those for live work. There is no single system to do this job. You need a new set of microphones, you need high-quality pre-amps of various flavours, and you need a multitrack recorder, either a dedicated hard disk unit or a computer.

There is no point in giving a list of suitable equipment until you give an idea of budget, and also what type of gig you expect to be recording (rock band, chamber group, choirs, orchestra etc).

You would, of course, take your recorded material back to the studio for post-production work.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:00 am

Hi Boswell and thanks for your reply Smile

The studio I'm working in is a home type of studio, but indeed a good one, and is used to record rock music. I'm in this rockband and this is all we do with the studio. Record our band's music.

Regarding microphones I don't think much investing is needed for us to be doing live recordings. To give you a chance to fill me in on this, here's a quick list of what we use in the studio:

Vocals = Rode NT2A or K2 (but sometimes a Beta 5 Cool

Acoustic Guitars = SM81 or Rode NT2A

Snare = SM57
Kick = Beta52
Overheads = SM81 or K2
Toms = Rode NT2A

For live recordings we're only gonna mic vocals, drums and percussion. Bass, El.Guitar, Ac.Guitars and such are all gonna be lined.

The gigs I'm talking about are currently small to medium sized clubs. So that's what I want recording gear for right now. But in the future it'll hopefully be bigger stages, both in- and outdoors. (But then again, when that happens there's probably fully equipped professionals there recording us.)

To be able to record 16 tracks simultaneously would be great. Anything under $30.000 including preamps would be suitable.

Another thing I'm looking for is a small system with maybe 2 or 4 tracks, to record isolated sounds, like the ones I mentioned in my previous post. Do you know any nice cheap easy-to-use systems like that?

Thanks again. Glad you're helping Smile

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:03 am

Nevermind that sunglasses-smiley. The mic is a shure beta 58

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:35 am

For wind, church bells, thunder, etc., you may consider one of these types of handy gadgets, so you don't have to schlep around a large box with mics (check out the small Zoom or Tascam) :

http://www.zzounds.com/cat--2882

Kapt.Krunch

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 4:01 pm

Thanks, Krunch!

What about sample rate? Can you tell me anything about recording in 44,1 and then make it into 96? I have no experience of doing that. Does anything bad happen to the sound quality?

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 7:45 pm

for live recording (16 tracks)
I use an old 001 with an Ai3 or the ADA80000
44.1k @ 24 bit
PT internal clock with the ADAT unit in slave
(I think this work better and is more stable for clock - based on the way the WaveFront chips work - posted stuff about this in the past)
import into the HD system for edit and mixdown
some editing might even start at the location on an mbox Laptop this can be very handy

my main sytem and gear including mics
do not leave the building

the live/location system does and the cost/value of equipment reflects that

if you must record at 96 then a 002 is a better option
44.1 would probably up sample to 88.2 very well and 96 is probably ok as well
but
I've never done it

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